Friday Friends 08-08-08

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Ah yes, it is that time again. It is hard to believe how fast the the week went.

Like I said last time, this is your post, an open thread, comment on whatever you would like. If you subscribe to this blog and rarely actually visit it, please stop by and give a shout out. I’m sure I’ll post over the weekend sometime. I just sent my wife and kids off for the weekend. I’ve got a fun-filled weekend planned… full of sermon prep. I am starting a three week series on the Book of Haggai, and would like to get ahead, but I don’t have a life when the family is away so I’m sure you’ll be hearing from in the form of another post this weekend. And of course in the comment section of this post!

Ah yay! I missed last week’s Friday friends, so I’ve been waiting since Saturday to get this off my chest!

Not life and death or anything, but I have no knowledge of theology or anything like that, and I am trying to understand the Bible better:

What is the ‘church’s’ (I mean the theologians and all that)’s view of the amount of wives men had in the old testament and concubines! I have been reading the Bible chronologically and I’m up to the whole story of David now, and He was a man after God’s own heart and even he had loads of wives and concubines and even household idols. I’d just like a better understanding of how to view this please.

Ah yay! I missed last week’s Friday friends, so I’ve been waiting since Saturday to get this off my chest!

Not life and death or anything, but I have no knowledge of theology or anything like that, and I am trying to understand the Bible better:

What is the ‘church’s’ (I mean the theologians and all that)’s view of the amount of wives men had in the old testament and concubines! I have been reading the Bible chronologically and I’m up to the whole story of David now, and He was a man after God’s own heart and even he had loads of wives and concubines and even household idols. I’d just like a better understanding of how to view this please.

Ah yay! I missed last week’s Friday friends, so I’ve been waiting since Saturday to get this off my chest!

Not life and death or anything, but I have no knowledge of theology or anything like that, and I am trying to understand the Bible better:

What is the ‘church’s’ (I mean the theologians and all that)’s view of the amount of wives men had in the old testament and concubines! I have been reading the Bible chronologically and I’m up to the whole story of David now, and He was a man after God’s own heart and even he had loads of wives and concubines and even household idols. I’d just like a better understanding of how to view this please.

Hey ripplegirl.. here is my take on your question from what Jesus said in Matthew 19:7-9..

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

..I think that a cultural hardness of heart caused men to have multiple wives.

Hey ripplegirl.. here is my take on your question from what Jesus said in Matthew 19:7-9..

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

..I think that a cultural hardness of heart caused men to have multiple wives.

Hey ripplegirl.. here is my take on your question from what Jesus said in Matthew 19:7-9..

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

..I think that a cultural hardness of heart caused men to have multiple wives.

A short answer would be… David, being human was still sinful. You and I even though we are Christ followers still sin, and God in His loving mercy deals with us.

The Bible is pretty clear that monogamy was the standard:

We see it in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve.

We see it in Matthew 19:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 6:16.

Starting in Genesis 16 you see it first recorded and really was an issue during the patriarchal stage. It was practiced up until the Captivity. After that we have no record of it.

Dueteronomy 17:17 speaks against this very thing… especially when it comes to kings:

“And he shall no acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold,” (ESV).

God knew that polygamy, especially the practice of intermarrying from peoples around the Israelites… could lead to them turning away from God. We see this in Solomon, (1 Kings 11:4-9). This didn’t happen to David though.

So because it was practiced didn’t mean it didn’t come with consequences or that it was God’s ideal. It did come with consequences. Even with David… his committing adultery with Bathsheba led to horrible consequences, but God still loved him. And he repented and loved God.

Also, another thought. Among the nation of Israel you really only see this being a problem with kings (and partriarches before Israel had Kings), and there were very few kings that pleased God.

A short answer would be… David, being human was still sinful. You and I even though we are Christ followers still sin, and God in His loving mercy deals with us.

The Bible is pretty clear that monogamy was the standard:

We see it in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve.

We see it in Matthew 19:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 6:16.

Starting in Genesis 16 you see it first recorded and really was an issue during the patriarchal stage. It was practiced up until the Captivity. After that we have no record of it.

Dueteronomy 17:17 speaks against this very thing… especially when it comes to kings:

“And he shall no acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold,” (ESV).

God knew that polygamy, especially the practice of intermarrying from peoples around the Israelites… could lead to them turning away from God. We see this in Solomon, (1 Kings 11:4-9). This didn’t happen to David though.

So because it was practiced didn’t mean it didn’t come with consequences or that it was God’s ideal. It did come with consequences. Even with David… his committing adultery with Bathsheba led to horrible consequences, but God still loved him. And he repented and loved God.

Also, another thought. Among the nation of Israel you really only see this being a problem with kings (and partriarches before Israel had Kings), and there were very few kings that pleased God.

A short answer would be… David, being human was still sinful. You and I even though we are Christ followers still sin, and God in His loving mercy deals with us.

The Bible is pretty clear that monogamy was the standard:

We see it in Genesis when He created Adam and Eve.

We see it in Matthew 19:4-5 and 1 Corinthians 6:16.

Starting in Genesis 16 you see it first recorded and really was an issue during the patriarchal stage. It was practiced up until the Captivity. After that we have no record of it.

Dueteronomy 17:17 speaks against this very thing… especially when it comes to kings:

“And he shall no acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold,” (ESV).

God knew that polygamy, especially the practice of intermarrying from peoples around the Israelites… could lead to them turning away from God. We see this in Solomon, (1 Kings 11:4-9). This didn’t happen to David though.

So because it was practiced didn’t mean it didn’t come with consequences or that it was God’s ideal. It did come with consequences. Even with David… his committing adultery with Bathsheba led to horrible consequences, but God still loved him. And he repented and loved God.

Also, another thought. Among the nation of Israel you really only see this being a problem with kings (and partriarches before Israel had Kings), and there were very few kings that pleased God.

Thanks Shane and Kansas Bob. So basically just because it is mentioned in the Bible, doesn’t mean it was an acceptable practice? The old testament has been puzzling to me because it mentions many shocking things- like daughters getting their father’s drunk and sleeping with them and women being raped, people being cut up into little pieces. But it sort of just mentions it like it is the most normal behavior in the world and then just carries on with the story. I would have liked it to say something like “so David had many wives- and this displeased God- ” and then they can carry on with the story… (But then the Bible wasn’t written for my liking) The new testament is a lot clearer about ‘moral’ issues, while the old testament just had a whole lot of laws. Thanks for explaining, I’m genuinely interested in all of this:)

Thanks Shane and Kansas Bob. So basically just because it is mentioned in the Bible, doesn’t mean it was an acceptable practice? The old testament has been puzzling to me because it mentions many shocking things- like daughters getting their father’s drunk and sleeping with them and women being raped, people being cut up into little pieces. But it sort of just mentions it like it is the most normal behavior in the world and then just carries on with the story. I would have liked it to say something like “so David had many wives- and this displeased God- ” and then they can carry on with the story… (But then the Bible wasn’t written for my liking) The new testament is a lot clearer about ‘moral’ issues, while the old testament just had a whole lot of laws. Thanks for explaining, I’m genuinely interested in all of this:)

Thanks Shane and Kansas Bob. So basically just because it is mentioned in the Bible, doesn’t mean it was an acceptable practice? The old testament has been puzzling to me because it mentions many shocking things- like daughters getting their father’s drunk and sleeping with them and women being raped, people being cut up into little pieces. But it sort of just mentions it like it is the most normal behavior in the world and then just carries on with the story. I would have liked it to say something like “so David had many wives- and this displeased God- ” and then they can carry on with the story… (But then the Bible wasn’t written for my liking) The new testament is a lot clearer about ‘moral’ issues, while the old testament just had a whole lot of laws. Thanks for explaining, I’m genuinely interested in all of this:)